According to the Penobscot County Republican Committee bylaws, Article X: Appeal:
Actions of the County Committee may be appealed through the process described in Rule 15 of the Maine State Republican Committee.
The bylaws had apparently not been updated for years, and no one ever changed the phrase "Rule 15" in the County Republican Committee Rules to "Rule 23," which is where the State Committee rule guiding the County Committee through such an appeal now resided.
Although several legal voting members of the Committee wanted to file an appeal, Ken Anderson was the one to do so.
Because the appeal was written only after it was obvious nothing was going to be done at the county level about the illegitimate election, Ken Anderson's appeal was written in the first couple of days in February, still well within the time limit.
Rule 23 c. states:
When any controversy as defined in Rule 23(a) arises at the county committee level...any person so affected by the controversy may file within twenty-one (21) calendar days of the date of such controversy arises a written appeal to the secretary of the Republican State Committee.
It goes on to explain the time limit and method of delivery and then says that the Chair of the Maine State Republican Committee has thirty (30) calendar days to appoint a five-member “Board of Investigation.”
The appeal was sent by certified mail on February 4, 2013. The post office made an attempt to deliver it to the Secretary of the State Committee, Chuck Mahaleris, on February 6, 2013, but he was not in the office at that time. He picked the appeal up at the post office on February 7, 2013.
Amazingly, no one at the state party to which he belonged notified Ken Anderson that his appeal had been received, what the next steps would be, or for that matter, anything.
In fact, in a stunningly tone-deaf and amateurish manner which would soon come to symbolize his "leadership," Maine State Republican Committee Chair Rich Cebra cut off all contact with Ken Anderson, including "de-friending" him on Facebook!
Bangor Daily News political blogger Chris Dixon waited more than two weeks after the appeal was filed before he finally wrote about it, apparently convinced that the Maine State Republican Party was going to hide this under the rug. He announced he had been sitting on the story until after the Maine GOP acted on the appeal, but when it became apparent that that news was not going to come out, he would be posting about it.
At that point, Rich Cebra cut off all communication with the State Committee members in Penobscot County as well as those who appeared to be their allies.
And the demonstration of Maine State GOP Chair Rich Cebra's display of abject inability to quell the gathering crowd of upset Republicans in Penobscot County, continued to alienate Penobscot County Committee members.
Pertinent Links:
Ken Anderson's appeal to the Maine State Republican Committee